I agree with most of your points. I have a little concern over #5 though. I hate pork-barrelling as much as the next guy, but unfortunately it's the only way some worthwhile projects (think new highways, upgrades to bridges, etc) get the federal funding they need.

I would go along with #5 if you could think of a way to still get worthwhile projects funded.

Scott-O-Rama
http://www.scott-o-rama.com

[Linking removed as they use rel="nofollow" on their Blog's comments. -Ed.]